I’m Riley McKay. The perfect boyfriend.I’m rich, good looking, and can climb a mountain with my bare hands. I remember birthdays and anniversaries. Plus, I’m a nice guy.Your mom will love me. Your dad will respect me (in that grudging way dads do when they know you’re screwing their daughter).And when it ends, which—let’s be honest—it always does?I’m nice then too. There’s nothing missing from my … then too.
There’s nothing missing from my life of serial monogamy. Definitely not the girl who walked away ten years ago without a word.
The one who drops back into my life like a fireball when I least expect it.
The only woman I couldn’t do ‘nice’ with.
They say you can’t rise without the fall.
With her, I’ve already fallen. No matter how sexy she is, or how fascinating, or how much I need her help with the Hollywood movie adaptation of Titan’s newest game? I won’t fall for Sam again.
Because falling is easy. Getting up is a b*tch.
Riley and Samantha’s story is a sexy second-chances romance that will give you all the feels.
RISE is book three in the bestselling indie contemporary romance series PLAY from Piper Lawson about Boston-based gamers and bankers. PLAY, NSFW and RISE don’t need to be read in order – but they’re so good that way!
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OMG, Riley is the most amazing book boyfriend ever. I’ve loved him throughout the series, and I am so glad I got to read Sam and his story from his perspective.
Definitely another smashing success.
5 stars and an odorless Yoda figure
Rise – Piper Lawson
Rise is the last story in the Play series and is the story of good guy, no great guy
Riley McKay and Samantha Martinez.
Riley and Samantha lived just down the street from each other when they are kids. Samantha has moved into the school Riley and Max attend and because they live so close strike up a friendship. Samantha and her dad have moved to help them work through the loss of Sam’s mother. Over time young Riley falls in love with Sam, but when it is time to move on from high school Sam does just that moves out of Riley’s life and on with her art.
Skip forward in time, Riley is the Chief Legal Counsel for Titan Games the company he and Max Donavan own. He is handsome, he is suave, he has personality. What woman wouldn’t want Riley? He wants to settle down, he wants a partner, I think he wants what he sees Max has. Why shouldn’t he? It’s just not happening. Riley has always been the personality of Titan Games, he does the interviews, he meets with business who want to work with Titan, he is the liaison between Titan Games and the movie company making a movie based on their last video game. Then there is that fateful night, (isn’t there always a fateful night) that Riley runs into Samantha after a very long time and realizes that he has missed her but he doesn’t know if he can get over the hurt she left him stewing in when she left.
I have loved Riley from book one on, rooting for him to find that special person who is worthy of such a nice guy, and Riley is that really nice guy. Rise puts Samantha and Riley together again, only time and a little distraction in LA can either make a go of this second chance of love or let it be just a renewing of a childhood friendship.
This book is filled with a lot of emotions, sadness, celebrations, memories both good and bad, and adding distance to a relationship that isn’t the most secure make this a wonderful read. Piper Lawson has ended the Play series the way all good book series should be, people meet, they learn about each other, they realize who they want and there is all sorts of happy along the way!
Loved all three books in this series Play, NSFW and Rise.
I am totally in love with Riley and I’m so glad I got to read his story. This was an excellent second chance romance. I love seeing the other characters from Play and NSFW pop up and we get a glimpse of their lives.
I received an ARC of this book and this is my voluntarily, honest review of it.
For the readers who read the books ‘Play’ and ‘NSFW’ they will certainly know Riley from those two stories but if you are new to Piper Lawson’s books then you don’t have to read those to read this one. ‘Rise’ can perfectly be read like a standalone.
‘Rise’ is a second-chance story, the writer used the present and past time to write this story. I think that it was the best way to write it because what happened between Riley and Samantha in the past still had a great influence on their life today. The story is writing from Riley’s POV which gave us his views and emotions on things which I liked. But sometimes I would have liked Samantha’s POV on things too. Especially by ‘emotional’ moments but I think that’s normal in stories where you only get one POV. But I did get my wish in the end because the epilogue is writing from Samantha’s POV.
‘Rise’ is a light story that’s easy to read with no big drama but that doesn’t mean that’s boring. No!
Riley is a really great character. He may be charming but he isn’t a playboy. No, he believes in relationships and love. He’s a good friend and a loveable son and brother. He’s intelligent and a good guy. I found Samantha a strong character (especially if you know what happened when she was a child).
One of the things that I liked very much in this story, was the fact that Riley and Samantha brought the best of each other out. That sometimes in life you don’t have to choose between one thing or another. That you can have both things in your life as soon as you stop caring what other people will think of it. If you’re brave enough to go for it.
It was good to see the other characters again from the previous books. I love the banter and friendship between them.
‘Rise’ is a nice story about two people who fell in love when they were young and they rediscover that love again years later.
Rise takes off the blinders of love. No longer is romance a woman’s world. It’s an equal opportunity heartache. The history of Riley and Sam is emotional, fun loving and frustrating. Lawson lays it all on the line. From the angstful misunderstandings to the surprise second chance, Rise is meant to be UNFORGETTABLE, and it lives up to the hype.
Riley surprised me in this story. He presents the cocky, successful lawyer vibe but when we finally got to dig deeper into his world, we learned that he had his heart broken which has caused him to hold back. As teenagers, Sam was the new girl at school and Riley was fascinated by her attitude and personality. They were best friends but some road blocks were put in their way which lead to heartbreak. Years later, they run into each other at a gallery where Sam is showing her artwork. For Riley, the old feelings are still there so how does he get Sam back into his life. This is a fabulous second chance romance for both of these characters. There is hurt and pain that has to be overcome. Add in the challenges Riley faces at Titan, the company he and Max own, which forces him to reevaluate what he really wants to do with his life versus what he thinks he should be doing. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.